Surviving St Mungo's
by imadoodlenoodle
Summary: 'Oh,Healer Malfoy, my knees ache, my eyesight's failing and my teeth have fallen out.' What am I supposed to do? 'Of course Mrs Jones, here's a prescription for two bottles of rejuvenating potion and an appointment with the fountain of youth?" DG@Mungo's
1. Chapter 1

**Surviving St Mungo's**

**Chapter One**

_In which Draco gets caught, Ginny has a run-in with the Director and a new nurse gets her feet wet._

**XxX**

* * *

><p>On the seventeenth of November the weather across Britain was trying its best to send as many people to St. Mungo's as possible. The ferocious rain the night before had frozen in the early hours of the morning, leaving ice sheets blanketing the pavements.<p>

If that wasn't bad enough, as people awoke snow fell across the country, so those people who were out walking didn't know that only a few inches of snow separated them and the slippery ice.

As it was, only six people were sent to Mungo's, although many suffered from bruised and sore bottoms.

Blissfully unaware of the weather was a man who was fortunate enough to have permission to use one of the few staff only fireplaces at Mungo's, and who was thus able to Floo in, without having to leave the house at all to get to work.

Gracefully sliding out of the Floo, he brushed off his shoulders before striding out of the room and heading down the pale blue hallway to his department.

"Healer Malfoy! Healer Malfoy!" The short rotund woman waddled out of her office having caught sight of her target, a man who had been steadily avoiding her all week.

He disappeared around the corner, oblivious to the frantic cries behind him.

Seemingly oblivious at least.

She redoubled her efforts, her short legs working twice as hard, rapidly moving. The increased friction caused a worrying heat to blossom where the legs were furiously rubbed against each other but she put it aside, intent on catching her prey.

"Healer Malfoy! Healer!"

The blond before her realised the chase was over and paused, a frown gracing his narrow features as her turned on his heel to face her. "Yes, Healer Caul?"

She came to a rest before him, out of breath and red faced. "Healer Malfoy, how many times have I told you to call me June?"

"Many a times Healer Caul. Was that all?"

"No, no, of course not, of course not! A little birdie told me you haven't been quite up to date with your clinic duties! Now, I don't what to push you, but part of your contract with us here does ask you to attend five hours of clinic a week and you just haven't quite been getting there!" She finished with a flourish and a matronly smile.

"Ah, I see Healer. I will try my utmost to correct that."

"Yes yes, but unfortunately Healer Malfoy you said that last week, and the week before. The Head Healers are pushing me to bring you into line! And rightly so!"

"Well Healer Caul-"

"-June."

"June, as you are aware I do deal with a lot of difficult and complex cases which demand all my attention and I simply do not have the time to go down to the clinic." Considering the conversation over, he gave he a small unapologetic smile and started turning around.

"Oh but I realised that Healer," her words froze him, "so I talked it over with a number of other Healers in your department and your case load has been lightened. You should have plenty of spare time now! Some now in fact!" Without waiting for his reaction she bustled off, leaving him standing in the hallway with a stricken expression on his face.

"What's wrong with you Malfoy? You look like someone just doubled your clinic hours." Ginny Weasley stood in front of Draco, indifferent to his annoyed glare directed towards her.

Nevertheless he replied. "Caul's just made it clear that clinic hours are for everyone."

Ginny grinned. "'Bout time too."

"Just because you spend all your time down there with them, it doesn't mean we all should. I spent my time with patients who require my intellect and attention. Not some idiot who has a rash on their back, thinks it's terminal and forgot about last night's sex on the living room carpet."

"That only happened once."

"That we know of," Draco muttered.

"Either way," Ginny continued brightly, "there are plenty of people who are dying for your attention today."

"I wish they would."

"Would . . . ?"

"Die."

"Draco!"

"Yes?"

"What a horrible thing to say."

"Please, you cannot tell me you haven't wished it every so often. I bet I'll walk into that waiting room and the entire place will be filled with old people who should have just given up and died already."

"I seriously can't believe you just said that."

"They're being held together with magic and potions, that's all." Scowling deeply he darkly added, "And half the time there's nothing wrong with them except the fact they're old. 'Oh, Healer Malfoy, my knees ache, my eyesight's failing and my teeth have fallen out.' What am I supposed to do? 'Of course Mrs Jones, here's a prescription for two bottles of rejuvenating potion and an appointment with the fountain of youth.'?"

"If there's nothing wrong with them, why do they come?"

"To socialise!" Draco almost shouted, the disbelief tinting his tone.

"Socialise?"

"Yes! The biddy's seemingly can't organise a tête a tête at their homes, they have to come here. It's an endless cycle of elderly who know that if they come they'll have someone to talk too."

"Why don't you set aside a room for them then? Use your sway on the board?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"You sound like you do."

"I'll rephrase; do I look like I care about them?"

After a pregnant pause in which Ginny almost took a step back and did have to question her hearing, she replied simply with the first thing that came to mind. "You are a shockingly appalling healer."

"No, I'm a brilliant Healer. I have shockingly appalling bedside manner, but who cares? They're just patients."

Ginny scowled at his casual disregard but it didn't last long. After working with Draco Malfoy for two years she had got used to his casual indifference with which he treated his patients. She didn't like it, but knew berating him wouldn't change him; he hardly listened when people spoke to him, he never listened when they were telling him off.

Draco looked down at her - not only because he was taller but because he was an ass - and gave her one of his pointed looks. "Was there something you wanted Weasley, or did you just come here to admire me? I don't mind of course, but I'd rather give you a picture instead of standing here for your pleasure."

Ignoring his comments, Ginny handed him one of the folders she was carrying. If she handed it to him with a bit of irritation, thrusting it at him, he didn't notice - or at least comment.

"I was down at Walk-In and as I was leaving Nurse Rajik gave this to me, asking if I would pass this on to you," she explained.

"You're doubling as my secretary now Weasley? Is money really that tight?" He didn't look at her while he spoke, instead choosing to flip through the file. He paused on one page, the page which Ginny could see was covered in the patients blood work-up results.

"That's why it was passed on," she commented, not even bothering to reply to his insults which flowed from his lips automatically. She thought he didn't even care if she was hurt by them or not any more, he just knew it was what was expected of him.

"Yes, yes," Draco said, still studying the results, "just have him transferred to my department, will you?" He turned and began walking off, leaving Ginny to shout her response down the corridor.

"I'm not your bloody secretary Malfoy!"

Huffing she spun around and smacked straight into the director of Mungo's, Director Parkinson.

The spinster great aunt of Pansy Parkinson, Malfrida Parkinson was unlike her in almost every aspect. Whereas Pansy had left Hogwarts and jumped into a job at the Ministry, working there until marrying a diplomat (the ambassador to France at the time), Malfrida Parkinson had left Hogwarts (at the top of her year) and accepted a position at Mungo's. There she stayed for six years, before taking off and travelling the world, learning about all manner of illnesses that affected Wizarding kind. After twenty years of that and building a reputation as a brilliant Healer with a quick mind and no tolerance for simpletons, she returned to Britain. With her own strengths combined with her family name and power she soon became a Head Healer and then Director, ruling over all. Ruthless and dedicated to her art, none of the staff believed Malfrida to have ever had a partner at all after never seeing or hearing of one in all the years Malfrida had worked at Mungo's.

The Director peered down at Ginny, one of her carefully drawn on black eyebrows raised questioning at her. "Is there a reason for your language Miss Weasley?" she whispered as per norm.

"No ma'am," Ginny quietly replied.

"Reason for your raised voice?"

"N-no."

Malfrida's lips were pursed as she considered Ginny, and Ginny hated the fact that the woman was able to make her feel like she was a child who had just broken a priceless antique. Malfrida was the only person she had ever stuttered around.

After an age, Malfrida spoke again. "If you are going to look foolish to those around you, have it be because of something you cannot control, not because of something you can, like personal feelings."

Ginny was just digesting her message when she disappeared, leaving Ginny flustered in the hallway being subtly stared at by staff and patients alike.

"Oh bugger off," she murmured underneath her breath before gathering her confidence and striding back to her ward. She had patients to treat.

**-XxX-**

Despite her protest of not, in fact, being Draco Malfoy's secretary, Ginny nonetheless arranged for his latest patient to be sent up the Diagnostic department on the sixth floor.

Draco was in his office when the patient arrived, announcing his presence with screaming and shouting. Looking out of his office window down the corridor, Draco watched as the elevator doors opened and a team of nurses and porters rushed out of it, a bed in the middle of it all.

From his point, all Draco could see was a mass of flailing arms and a whithering body which was becoming tangled and wrapped up in the blanket that had once rested peacefully on the patient.

The nurses and porters looked stunned and surprised as they tried to calm the man down and get him back under control, but whatever was causing his actions wasn't making it easy for them. Eventually a porter on either side clamped down on his arms and torso while two nurses battled with his legs. The last nurse hastily pulled out a syringe and a small glass container of liquid. Sensing her intent - to knock his patient out - Draco jumped up and stuck his head out of the office.

"Nurse!" he tersely called and immediately she responded by looking his way.

With the hand holding the now filled syringe hovering over the patient, the nurse looked over to him exasperatedly. "Healer?"

"Put that away," Draco commanded. "You must be new, otherwise you would know that in this department we don't use that drug."

She spluttered and was about to reply when Draco cut her off.

"You're a nurse, not a Healer: don't question me," he cuttingly remarked before heading back into his office.

The other nurses and porters who had watched the exchange had sympathy for the new girl but didn't share in her bitching about Draco. Instead, one of the porters merely noted "It's how we do things here," as they transferred the still screaming patient into a private bay.

Albeit with some difficulty.

There a waiting Healer silently stepped up and jabbed her wand at him, causing his to fall silent too and lie on the bed motionless. When she swiftly departed after that, a fellow nurse explained to the new girl: "Potions and drugs, they all mess with the patients system making it harder for the healers here to diagnose what's wrong with them. They only freeze patients, they don't entirely remove the pain."

"It sounds barbaric!" the other replied, shocked and gazing down at the frozen man with horror.

"Eh," the porter chimed in, "s'not like they can feel it. C'mon John," he nodded to his fellow porter, "we're need downstairs.

They left, leaving the three nurses behind.

"Wait," the new girl said, confusion colouring her voice, "you said it doesn't remove the pain but he just said-"

One of the other nurses waved a hand at her, cutting her off. "Don't they teach you anything anymore? Is that now our job?" Expecting no answer she continued, "it dulls the pain so they can still feel it and tell the Healers about it, but it's a pain they can easily ignore."

"Thank you for that Marie. Can you set up the monitoring spells? I'm going to show the new girl-"

"Hope," said new girl butted in.

"-around the place so she knows where to go," the older nurse continued, ignoring the outburst.

"Sure thing Ada," Marie said with a grin, turning her back on her colleagues and withdrawing her wand.

"Follow me Hope," Ada directed and a second later began her tour of St Mungo's Sixth Floor: the Diagnostic Department, run by Healer Lancelot and home of Draco Malfoy.

**-XxX-**

"By the way, you better get yourself up to the top floor as soon as you can and bone up on nursing in Diagnostics, it's different than other places and if you're no good you get reassigned quickly," Ada suggested when Hope caught up with her. "Go see Ann, she's the librarian there, she'll sort you out."

"I'm so sorry about the patient," Hope blurted out. "I was top of my class, I don't know how I forgot, I can't remember being taught about that, I can't," Hope rambled on, oblivious to Ada's knowing look.

Ada stopped and grabbed hold of Hope, stopping her too in her tracks.

"The only reason you have a job here, in this department, is because you were so good in training, but that's not enough. Nursing's hard in every department but here we tend to get the difficult patients, the ones who die without us knowing why, sometimes in great deals of pain. Knowing your stuff isn't enough; you need to be able to cope with the desperate and futile situations with one patient and when they're gone you need to be able to care for another patient almost immediately. It's an emotional ride Hope, and you can't let it get to you. Now, I don't know you but your teachers did and they think you can handle this. That means until I don't think you can, you're going to be here dealing with it all."

Hope stood stunned, unable to say anything and not knowing what she would say if she could.

"So, here we have the potions store," Ada continued, acting as if she had said nothing.

For the rest of the tour, Hope followed Ada mutely.

**XxX**

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><p><strong>AN: I don't actually have anything to say at this stage other than please leave a review and I hope you enjoyed it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Surviving St Mungo's**

**Chapter Two**

_In which Draco gets a new puzzle, Ginny has lunch and Hope meet the librarian_

**XxX**

* * *

><p>After the detailed tour of the sixth floor, where the research department was located, Hope travelled up to the top floor. She had been told that the staff common room, cafeteria, and the library were located there.<p>

Stepping out of the lift, she was immediately hit by the intoxicating smell of lunch coming from the room on her left. It painfully reminded her of the fact that lunch time was now and that she was operating on an empty stomach, having been too nervous to eat that morning. 'First day jitters,' her boyfriend Steve had said while heartily wolfing down his own breakfast.

Deciding she couldn't work with hunger pangs, Hope made her decision and headed into the canteen.

The room was close to the size of Hogwart's Great Hall but entirely different to the old medieval feel of Hogwarts. Here, after a recent renovation, the cafeteria of St Mungo's now looked light and spacious as opposed to its old look of drab and dingy. When it was redecorated in the 70s, the place had looked smart. But the years reduced it to a shabby room people left as soon as possible. Part of the redevelopment of the hospital was spent on bringing the canteen up to standards. The peeling navy paint had been removed, and the walls were covered in a simple cream shade. The greying carpet was replaced with white tiles, and the old - and uncomfortable - furniture was replaced by pale wooden modern furniture.

After spending many hours in the old canteen with her siblings while her mother worked below, this new place was a surprise to Hope as was the number of people inside. Jam packed with various staff members, the canteen was filled to the brim, and her hope of actually sitting down for a meal was dashed.

Instead, Hope joined the queue and waited to grab some cereal bars; something she could take with her. As she reached the snacks, a voice cut in and startled her.

"Where's your tray?"

Glancing up, Hope caught sight of a large man in a hairnet, staring down at her. Eyes wide, she hesitantly answered him. "I don't have one."

He scoffed before pointing to the back of the line, which had rapidly grown, "No tray, no service."

"But I only want some cereal bars!" Hope protested. "They're just there, I can-"

"_No tray, no service_," he stressed and jabbed a finger at the queue. "Trays are at the back."

Hope's eyes watered, and she blinked back tears. Meekly, with her head down, she turned and was about to leave the line when, for the second time that day, someone grabbed her arm and held her in place.

"She's with me."

Looking up in surprise, Hope saw her saviour was none other than one of the porters, who she had worked with earlier. He smiled down at her encouragingly, and after a moment, she returned his smile.

"Thanks," she whispered, walking with the porter as he picked up his own food along with her cereal bars.

Despite her plan to go straight to the library, Hope sat down at a table with the porter. Picking up a cereal bar, Hope flipped it over and studied the ingredients.

"Surely you're not on a diet!" he exclaimed, watching Hope.

"My name's not Shirley," Hope instantly replied, looking up grinning. "No, I'm allergic to nuts."

"Shame," he joked causing Hope to blush. "My friend's call me Rob." Picking up his fork he dug into his cottage pie. "You recovered quickly," he commented, eating all the while.

Hope grimaced good naturedly. "Yeah, my mum always said I was too in tune with my emotions, wear my heart on my sleeve. Didn't get that from her for sure, she was always able to control herself."

"'S not always a bad thing," Rob said in between bites, grinning back at Hope.

Watching them from the other side of the room, Draco kept an eye on his new nurse as she continued to chatter happily with the porter. He would have liked to have said that he noticed as Ginny sidled up and dropped her tray on the table, joining him uninvited; but he didn't.

"Perving on your new nurse already Malfoy?" she asked as she pulled open her sandwich. "I would have thought you'd at least let her settle in first."

"The very opposite," Draco fired back, "they're easiest wile they're still disorientated."

"Which they'd have to be to sleep with you." She bit into her sandwich, smirking at him.

The effect was ruined by the slither of lettuce that hadn't made it all the way into her mouth and was hanging out of it.

"Healer Malfoy, Ginny-"

"Move on Hunter," Draco snapped immediately, causing the tall American Healer to freeze in surprise.

"_Malfoy_," Ginny warningly whispered before beaming brightly up at the Healer next to her.

Healer Hunter was a new transfer to the hospital and had quickly made friends amongst the staff. With his easy going attitude and cute 'boy next door' looks, it wasn't a hard feat.

He had also, unknowingly, got onto Draco Malfoy's bad side, meaning Draco no longer tolerated Hunter's presence what so ever.

"Now, now, I don't want to get into the middle of anything. I said I'd go and have lunch with the guys in Artifact Accidents anyway so you two can get back to your conversation." He winked at Ginny and nodded goodbye to Draco. Just as he was about to leave he turned back to Ginny, "By the way Ginny, you've got a bit of lettuce sticking out."

As Hunter walked off, Ginny turned to face Draco, who had innocently returned to his lunch.

"_Malfoy_," Ginny seethed, "why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"It's not like you stood a chance with him anyway."

"What?! Hunter? Me? I don't even . . ." Ginny shook her head. "What do you mean Malfoy?"

"You are lacking a vital thing to make him interested in you."

"Explain."

"He's gay," Draco replied simply.

"Hunter?" Ginny asked with disbelief. "He can't be, he's-"

"-Gay," interjected Draco. "Trust me."

"Trust you? Is there something you're not telling me Draco?" Ginny teased.

"I would ask if you're trying to imply I'm homosexual but, as all Gryffindors lack the subtly needed to imply, the question would be pointless." Draco laid his fork down and smiled at Ginny in a way that never failed to irritate her. Rising he said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting back to my office."

"You're not going back to work!" Ginny feigned surprise.

"No, an intense Solitaire game," Draco drolly replied, leaving Ginny - and a now limp cheese salad sandwich - alone in the canteen.

**-XxX-**

After lunch with Rob, Hope left the canteen and headed for the library, planning on spending the rest of the afternoon there. Entering the library through thick wooden doors, Hope made a beeline for the librarian's desk. Walking up to the desk, she caught sight of the librarian, who sat in a chair with her feet up, her head bent over a small book.

Hope stood next to the desk, going unnoticed. What minute confidence she had gained whilst eating lunch had evaporated the minute she stepped up to the desk, and Hope stood awkwardly waiting to be seen.

When that didn't happen, Hope inwardly sighed and gave a polite cough, drawing the librarian's attention.

Glancing up from her book, the librarian's eyes lit up when they landed on Hope and a slow easy smile grew on her face. "_Good _morning," she all but purred. The seductive tone of her voice almost caused Hope to take a step back. The hesitant expression and small movement she made elicited a smirk from the woman in front of her.

"Hello," Hope shyly replied, silently cursing herself. What had happened to the confident girl who topped her classes? It seemed that during her studies she had grown used to being surrounded by people who knew better than her and was still acting like the poor confused nursing student instead of the registered and qualified nurse she was.

Gathering her wits, Hope stood straighter, ridding herself of the slouch she'd been carrying and staring the librarian down. "I was told you'd be able to help me locate some books about nursing practices in diagnostics."

"That would come under one of my job duties," the librarian mused, "so I believe I could be of some assistance."

Closing her book and dropping her feet back to the floor, the librarian blindly discarded her book on to a random pile before withdrawing a ledger from beneath the desk. Carefully opening it, she turned to a page and glanced up at Hope before turning to the next page with a murmur; "Nurse, I do believe."

Taking a quill from the crafted glass holder she dipped the tip into the inkwell and sat poised. Leaning forward, and it the process revealing an ample bosom divulged by a undone button, the librarian reached out to Hope's waist and snagged her ID card.

"Hope Basingroot," the woman read aloud with a slight frown on her face, something which went unnoticed by Hope who was steadfast trying to avoid looking at her chest.

Reverting to her ledger, the librarian copied down a few details and then replaced it under the counter as she did so she mentioned that Hope was now able to borrow books and use the index system.

Hope thanked her and took back her ID. "Well you know my name. Yours?"

"Cynthia," she replied simply and stood up, coming around to stand next to Hope. After briefly giving Hope the once over, she turned and began walking away, confidently striding despite wearing four inch heels.

"Follow me," Cynthia commanded and for the second time that day, Hope dutifully fell into place beside the woman as she took her further into the library.

**-XxX-**

After leaving Ginny in the canteen, Draco returned to his office to study the file, which had been sent up alongside his latest patient. Scanning the reports, he saw nothing which would explain why his new patient had what had been diagnosed as Nundu blood in his system.

Whereas Nundu breath carried diseases, which quickly incapacitated and killed its victim; Nundu _blood_ was considered even more dangerous as one drop could kill a man in moments. Only minute traces of the blood had to be in contact with the skin for an effect to take place. Even being in proximity with the blood could cause dizziness, nausea, and, in extreme cases, burst capillaries resulting in bruises. Quite mild but disconcerting to say the least, especially to those working with the blood.

All of that however wasn't helpful. According to the results in Draco's hands, his patient ought to have died almost instantly and not be in his treatment room.

Mindlessly tapping his finger against the arm rest, Draco continued to go through everything in the file but found nothing. The man was a medical wonder.

Which Draco had to find the cause for.

Decision set, Draco left the office and went to see the man, hoping he would still be knocked out. Unsurprising he wasn't, and Draco took this as another sign that this was not going to be his day.

The man, Edward, according to the file, was propped up in bed reading _The Oracle _andquite happily breathing. Despite his earlier screaming and thrashing, he seemed quite calm. The only sign of his illness was his sickly pale complexion.

Feeling eyes on him, Edward looked up and caught Draco staring. Unabashed, Draco carried on studying the man and only when he was finished, did he venture inside the room.

"Been an interesting day, hasn't it?" Edward asked, strangely upbeat, which Draco immediately commented on.

"You seem rather collected for someone who entered the ward screaming and flailing, thrashing about like a Basilisk.

Edward blushed and apologised, which Draco just waved off.

"Is there any reason why we were able to find Nundu blood in your system Mr. Amswitch?" Draco asked, not really expecting a satisfactory answer.

"Well, not really," Edward Amswitch responded. "I mean, I do, on occasion, come in contact with Nundu blood in the research department. But we haven't had any for months."

"Any illness while working with the blood?"

"The usual: dizziness, vomiting, so on so forth. I was actually least effected though. Out of all of us, I was the only one able to work with the blood from the beginning of the research trial until the end; everyone else worked on the blood for about two to four weeks." The man was evidently proud of the fact.

"And how long did you work on the blood?"

"The entire twelve weeks."

Proud he could be, Draco thought, when he lasted three times as long as anyone else - a rare feat. Draco himself had spent time around the blood during part of his travels and could not imagine submitting himself to three months of the debilitating side affects.

As Draco was about to question Edward further, the door to the room swung open, revealing a dishevelled and panicked looking young woman. Short and rounded, she wasn't usually what Draco would go for, but she had a pleasant enough looking face and curly black hair, which set her light blue eyes off nicely.

Normally it would anyway, but today, with bloodshot eyes surrounded by reddened puffy skin, she looked a mess.

"Edward!" she gasped, running into the room and flinging herself upon him.

Despite having her face pressed keenly against Edward's chest, Draco was able to make out some of her mumbled words; the gist of which were an apology. Catching Draco's eyes, Edward explained unasked. "I became ill while at Millie's. She thinks she's given me food poisoning."

"Perhaps on another day, but your current illness isn't food poisoning," Draco succinctly replied before leaving the two.

Returning to his office, Draco wrote out a short note requesting a meeting with an old friend; throwing the note into the MailFloo, Draco watched as it was whisked away to the recipient's grate and leaned back in his chair, waiting for a response.

Because of his brief but intensive travels Draco had seen a lot of illnesses and diseases, his time in diagnostics only compounded his knowledge of strange - and often disgusting - ailments which lead to him becoming one of the better, if not best, diagnostician. The major upside for him, as well as the status and money, was the increase in difficult patients, the mysterious illness that no-one seemed to know what it wass.

Mr Amsworth was already proving to be a puzzle; one Draco wished to solve quickly, lest the man should die and carry his secret illness away with him.

**XxX**

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><p><strong>AN: Leave a review and I'll not make you wait another year for an update? **

**This one's on the back-burner at the moment, I have another story I'm working on which has a couple of chapters posted. **

**Summary: Arguing in front of magical portraits becomes dangerous for the two when they're suddenly sucked into Godith the Grey's world. Now battling across the paintings of Hogwarts they have to get to the Headmaster if they ever want to get back into the real world. DG**

**Thanks! And I hope you enjoyed it.**


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